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Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
December archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 29 albums, 6 A-list
Music: Current count 43333 [43304] rated (+29), 10 [6] unrated (+4).
New records reviewed this week:
- John Butcher/Florian Stoffner/Chris Corsano: The Glass Changes Shape (2023 [2024], Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(**)
- Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few: The World Is on Fire (2023 [2024], Division 81): [sp]: A-
- Elephant9 With Terje Rypdal: Catching Fire (2017 [2024], Rune Grammofon): [sp]: B+(***)
- Eliane Elias: Time and Again (2024, Candid): [sp]: B+(**)
- Peter Evans: Extra (2023 [2024], We Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
- Kate Gentile/International Contemporary Ensemble: B i o m e i.i (2021 [2023], Obliquity): [bc]: B+(***)
- Ayumi Ishito: Roboquarians Vol. 1 (2022 [2024], 577): [bc]: B+(**)
- Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra: Live at the Adler Planetarium (2023 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(**)
- Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra/Small Unit: Spectral Fiction (2023 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(***)
- Milton Nascimento/Esperanza Spalding: Milton + Esperanza (2024, Concord): [sp]: B+(**)
- Eva Novoa: Novoa/Gress/Gray Trio, Volume 1 (2019 [2024], 577): [os]: B+(**)
- Ivo Perelman/Aruán Ortiz/Ramón López: Ephemeral Shapes (2024, Fundacja Słuchaj): [dl]: B+(***)
- Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: Magical Incantation (2024, Soul City Sounds): [sp]: A-
- Ivo Perelman/Gabby Fluke-Mogul: Duologues 2: Joy (2024, Ibeji Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Ivo Perelman/Ingrid Laubrock: Duologues 3: Crystal Clear (2024, Ibeji Music): [sp]: B+(***)
- Ivo Perelman's Săo Paulo Creative 4: Supernova (2024, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
- Neta Raanan: Unforeseen Blossom (2024, Giant Step Arts): [bc]: B+(***)
- Christian Tamburr/Dominick Farinacci/Michael Ward-Bergeman: Triad (2024, Ropeadope): [sp]: A-
- Teiku: Teiku (2022 [2024], 577): [sp]: B+(***)
- Trance Map (Evan Parker and Matthew Wright): Horizons Held Close (2024, Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(**)
- Transatlantic Trance Map: Marconi's Drift (2022 [2024], False Walls): [bc]: B+(**)
- Unionen: Unionen (2024, We Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
- John Zorn: New Masada Quartet, Volume 3: Live at Roulette (2024, Tzadik): [sp]: A-
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Tim Berne/Michael Formanek: Parlour Games (1991 [2024], Relative Pitch): [sp]: A-
- Brian Calvin and Devin Johnston: Some Hours (1999 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey, EP): [bc]: B+(**)
- Johnny Cash: Songwriter (1993 [2024], Mercury Nashville): [sp]: A-
- Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: The Old Country: More From the Deer Head Inn (1992 [2024], ECM): [sp]: B+(*)
- Soft Machine: Hřvikkoden 1971 (1971 [2024], Cuneiform): [dl]: B+(***)
Old music:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Erik Jekabson: Breakthrough (Wide Hive) [01-17]
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Weakly Links
Lizzie Cernik: [12-06]
How we met: 'Anyone who can tolerate me for 40 years has got to be
special': Human interest story, a Boston couple, "Wayne, 72 and
Aura, 67." I knew them when I lived in Boston in the 1990s, but
haven't seen them since. They were good friends of my wife, who
has been back to Boston since then, and has kept in touch.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Daily Log
French pianist Martial Solal died, probably 97. I commented on
Facebook:
I remember Gary Giddins was a big fan. I think the only time I met
Giddins was shortly after 9/11/2001, when I was at Christgau's working
on setting up his website. Gary came over to edit his piece on Solal,
his first choice subject after 9/11, and we talked about how this
music gave him comfort and hope. My own sampling of Solal's work has
been rather spotty, although I noted that "Just Friends" was Gary's #2
for 1998, and that the last four records I have heard (recording dates
2016-19 were all high B+ (and I'm not generally much of a piano fan).
I wrote the following in a letter to Steve Pick, after he skipped
Rara Avis on his ballot (edited down a bit):
Thanks. Somewhat refreshing to see Rara Avis skipped. Most of us are
so steeped in history that that's the easy part of the job -- or would
be if we could just get the damn records (much harder than new
albums), and if the mix of archival tapes and expensive LP reissues
and real obscurities were more easily comparable. But also the
standings track much more closely to publicist influence than with new
albums -- probably because no more than 10-15 historical albums get
any serious PR push -- Blue Note/Verve obviously, plus a couple
independents that work through Braithwaite, Liebman, and (less often)
DL Media.
I'm basically a historian at heart, and I used to write an oldies
column, so I'd like to focus on that stuff, but even for me, this
year's new/old split is like 8-to-1 (exact numbers in latest Music
Week). I gave up the column when it became increasingly difficult to
get the records I wanted -- and I couldn't afford to just buy
everything, like Clifford Ocheltree seems able to do.
Friday, December 13, 2024
El Intruso Ballot
- Musician of the year: Allen Lowe, Fay Victor, James Brandon Lewis.
- Newcomer Musician: Luke Stewart.
- Group of the year: Ahmed.
- Newcomer group: ŘKSE.
- Album of the year:
Allen Lowe & the Constand Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America;
Fay Victor: Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (Tao Forms);
Luke Stewart Silt Trio: Unknown Rivers (Pi).
- Composer: Allen Lowe
- Drums: Hamid Drake, Chad Taylor
- Acoustic Bass: William Parker
- Electric Bass:
- Guitar: Samo Salamon, Luis Lopes
- Piano: Matthew Shipp, Pat Thomas
- Keyboards/Synthesizer/Organ:
- Tenor Saxophone: Dave Rempis, James Brandon Lewis, Rodrigo Amado
- Alto Saxophone: François Carrier, Darius Jones, Allen Lowe
- Baritone Saxophone: Dave Rempis, Tim Berne
- Soprano Saxophone: Roberto Ottaviano
- Trumpet/Cornet: Kirk Knuffke, Dave Douglas
- Clarinet/bass clarinet: Jason Stein
- Trombone: Steve Swell
- Flute
- Violin/Viola: Jason Kao Hwang, Layale Chaker
- Cello: Tomeka Reid
- Vibraphone: Jason Adasiewicz
- Electronics: Floating Points
- Others instruments
- Female Vocals: Fay Victor
- Male Vocals
- Record Label: Mahakala Music, NoBusiness
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
December archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 48 albums, 4 A-list
Music: Current count 43304 [43255] rated (+48), 6 [12] unrated (-6).
New records reviewed this week:
- Alfa Mist & Amika Quartet: Recurring: Live at King's Place (2024, Sekito): [sp]: B+(**)
- The Bad Plus: Complex Emotions (2023 [2024], Mack Avenue): [sp]: B+(**)
- Dmitry Baevsky: Roller Coaster (2024, Fresh Sound New Talent): [sp]: B+(**)
- Bark Culture: Warm Wisdom (2023 [2024], Temperphantom): [sp]: B+(*)
- Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Spin (2023 [2024], Ronin Rhythm): [sp]: B+(***)
- Body Meπa: Prayer in Dub (2024, Hausu Mountain): [sp]: B+(***)
- Willi Bopp/Camille Émaille/Gianni Gebbia/Heiner Goebbels/Cécile Lartigau/Nicolas Perrin: The Mayfield (2022 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
- Karen Borca/Paul Murphy: Entwined (2024, Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(***)
- Sarah Buechi/Franz Hellmüller/Rafael Jerjen: Pink Mountain Sagas (2024, Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
- Anna Butterss: Mighty Vertebrate (2024, International Anthem): [sp]: B+(***)
- Charlie and the Tropicales: Jump Up (2024, Nu-Tone): [sp]: B+(**)
- Sylvie Courvoisier: To Be Other-Wise (2024, Intakt): [sp]: B+(***)
- Josephine Davies: Satori: Weatherwards (2024, Whirlwind): [sp]: B+(***)
- Caroline Davis: Portals Vol. 2: Returning (2022 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
- David Friesen: A Light Shining Through (2021 [2024], Origin): [cd]: B+(***)
- Asher Gamedze & the Black Lungs: Constitution (2023 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(*)
- Ginetta's Vendetta: Fun Size (2024, Kickin' Wiccan Music): [cd]: B+(*)
- Louis Hayes: Artform Revisited (2024, Savant): [sp]: B+(***)
- The Jazz Passengers: Big Large: In Memory of Curtis Fowlkes (2023 [2024], FOOD): [sp]: B+(***)
- Emiliano Lasansky: The Optimist (2024, Outside In Music): [sp]: B+(***)
- Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Brink (2024, Intakt): [r]: B+(**)
- Jeff Lederer: Guilty!!! (2024, Little (i) Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Luis Lopes Humanization 4tet: Saarbrücken (2021 [2024], Clean Feed): [bc]: A-
- Luis Lopes: Dark Narcissus: Stereo Guitar Solo (2024, Shhpuma): [bc]: B+(**)
- Roberto Magris: Europlane for Jazz: Freedom Is Peace (2024, JMood): [cd]: B+(***)
- Francisco Mela/Zoh Amba: Causa y Efecto (Vol. 2) (2021 [2024], 577): [bc]: B+(**)
- Eva Novoa: Novoa/Carter/Mela Trio, Vol. 1 (2021 [2024], 577): [os]: A-
- Adam O'Farrill: Hueso (2024, FOOD): [sp]: B+(***)
- Out Of/Into [Joel Ross/Gerald Clayton/Kendrick Scott/Matt Brewer/Immanuel Wilkins]: Motion I (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(**)
- Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: The Way Out of Easy (2023 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: A-
- Ivo Perelman/Fay Victor/Jim Morris/Ramon Lopez: Messa Di Voce (2018 [2024], Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(***)
- Ivo Perelman/Nate Wooley: Polarity 3 (2024, Burning Ambulance): bc]: B+(*)
- Joe Sanders: Parallels (2021 [2024], Whirlwind): [sp]: B
- Jenny Scheinman: All Species Parade (2024, Royal Potato Family): [sp]: B+(***)
- Jörg A. Schneider/Luis Lopes: Schneider/Lopes (2023 [2024], Schneidercollaboration): [bc]: B+(**)
- Shabaka: Possession (2024, Impulse!, EP): [sp]: B
- Linda Sikhakhane: Iladi (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(***)
- Ben Solomon: Echolocation (2023 [2024], Giant Step Arts): [sp]: B+(***)
- Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message (2023 [2024], Circle 9): [cd]: B+(**)
- Chucho Valdés/Royal Quartet: Cuba and Beyond (2024, InterCat Music Group): [sp]: B+(**)
- Anna Webber: Simpletrio2000 (2023 [2024], Intakt): [bc]: B+(***)
- Ben Wolfe: The Understated (2023 [2024], Resident Arts): [sp]: B+(*)
- John Zorn & Jesse Harris: Love Songs Live (2023 [2024], Tzadik): [sp]: B+(**)
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Louis Armstrong All Stars: Lausanne 1952 [Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 48] (1952 [2024],TCB): [bc]: B+(***)
- Jakob Bro/Lee Konitz/Bill Frisell/Jason Moran/Thomas Morgan/Andrew Cyrille: Taking Turns (2014 [2024], ECM): [cd]: B+(*)
- Bill Evans: In Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (1970 [2024], Elemental Music): [cd]: B+(***)
- Al Jarreau: Wow! Live at the Childe Harold (1976 [2024], Resonance): [cd]: B+(***)
- NRG Ensemble: Hold That Thought (1996 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: A-
Old music:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Jessica Jones Quartet: Edible Flowers (Reva) [01-03]
- Karl Latham: Living Standards II (Dropzone Jazz) [01-17]
- Noel Okimoto: Hō'ihi (Noel Okimoto Music) [01-01]
Sunday, December 08, 2024
Weakly Links
I think that was the title I used for blog posts for a while --
original idea was "Weekly Links" but as best I recall I took a
liking to the typo. I'm not going to do a systematic search for
these things, but when I find something, why not?
Chatter:
Aaron Regunberg: [12-03]
Harris campaign advisors: "We did everything we coould have, but this
was unwinnable, because Biden - the guy we previously said absolutely
had to be the nominee - was so unpopular, but also not unpopular enough
to justify us making literally any effort at all to break from him."
David Sirota: [12-03]
On CNN, Rahm Emanuel admits a refusal to hold Iraq War proponents
accountable for their lies & a refusal to hold Wall St. accountable
for the financial crisis created big problems for Dems. Emanuel was
chief of staff of the Obama White House that opted to hold nobody
accountable.
David Klion: [12-07]
The reason you can't name a leading health insurance CEO unless they
get shot is that unlike CEOs in some industries, they don't try to
be famous. Implicitly, they know that everyone correctly hates their
product, hates them, and wishes their whole industry didn't exist.
Alan MacLeod: [12-08]
The absolute worst take imaginable. [Link to Bret Stephens:
Syrians also have Israel to thank for their liberation -- link
takes you to "five quick takes," so beware that Stephens was already
competing with Thomas Friedman and Nicholas Kristoff for the title.]
Tuesday, December 03, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
December archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 26 albums, 7 A-list
Music: Current count 43255 [43229] rated (+26), 12 [21] unrated (-9).
Another short week, attempting to revert to a normal (or at
least more customary) publication date of Tuesday (or Monday).
But also because we're expecting company from late tonight
through the weekend, so I'm not expecting much more time to
work on this (or anything else).
We finally moved back into our wrecked-and-renovated upstairs
room, with all the dislocated clutter if not back in its original
resting space at least stashed away somewhere we won't accidentally
trip over. I'll still need to figure out some organization for the
now empty closet space, but that's no longer on the critical path
to something else. And if we do manage to declutter some, we might
not even need it.
I wish I could say the
19th annual Francis
Davis Jazz Critics Poll was properly shaped up, but I've bumbled
through another week of deep thought and lightweight hacking, making
only small measures of progress. The initial round of 230 invites
went out on or near Nov. 20. (The 8 bounces have since been reduced
to 5. Anti-spam problems persist, even within the rather compact
jpadmin mail list. (I'm overdue to send a reminder to the
more global jazzpoll mail list, but I keep thinking I'll
have better news soon.) The website
Voter
Notes have a lot more detail, but are still unfinished. The
more urgent project is to get a second round of ballot invites
out, which may take as long as the end of the week. If you're
expecting one and haven't heard yet, please nag me.
I've counted 27 ballots, and have 4-5 in my inbox today that
I'll get to after posting this. The pace should pick up steadily
from this week, although it's impossible to predict whether we
will wind up with 120 or 150 or 180 ballots (or maybe even 200
if the second round really explodes). The biggest uncertainty
is how much mail is actually getting through to voters, as there
is no way (at least that I know of) to ensure or even accurately
measure delivery. In the past, I've urged people who read this
to spread the word, but I've never seen any evidence of that
working.
So I'm torn between feelings of panic and que sera sera,
with the coming distraction favoring the latter. No new work
on the ultimate
Speaking of Which. I glanced briefly at The Intelligencer
today for the first time in a week or two, discovering that Biden
pardoned his son -- which at least short-circuits the question of
whether Trump would have done so (in the hollowest gesture of
bipartisanship imaginable). Also Ed Kilgore attacking "Sanders,
Warren, and other progressives" for "looking to steal some of
Trump's populist street cred" and "just deny Democrats a united
front" (against what? street cred?). Nothing there on South Korea
yet, where the right does seem to have provoked a "united front"
in defense of democracy.
Meanwhile, I've moved from Marshall Berman's All That Is
Solid Melts Into Air to another old book I've long meant to
read, Eric Hobsbawm's The Age of Capital: 1848-1875. I
have two more Hobsbawm volumes lined up after that, with The
Age of Extremes on a shelf hereabouts since I bought it hot
off the press. I might also note that I did manage to take a
break Sunday to fix a
very comfy dinner. Had leftovers tonight, and they were delish.
With company, hopefully I'll get to cook some more. Helps relieve
stress, even though it does tend to come back on you.
I haven't
filed my own ballot yet, but will do so this week. For a rough
draft, you can look at my
Jazz list. I have
to reconsider the order, which has always been slapdash, but the
leading candidates haven't changed much in well over a month --
the adds have been way down the list, which currently is up to
a possible record-high 89 A-list jazz albums. One likely change
is that I'll combine the Lowe volumes into one entry and make
it my top pick. (The Pollmaster has allowed that to be legal.
See the op. cit. Voter Notes.) I'll publish whatever I come up
with next week, along with whatever news crops up. Meanwhile, my
Non-Jazz list
remains relatively lame, with a mere 49 A-list new albums, which
Lamar Kendrick barely missed this week. I've done a little bit of
EOY Aggregate work,
but not much. I'll have time to catch up later. One thing I have
zero interest in right now is 2025 releases. My 2024 demo queue
is down to 6 albums right now. I should knock them down next
week. As for saved download links, not my problem right now.
I've skipped past much bookkeeping work over the last month or
so, and doubt I'll make any progress on it for a couple more weeks,
but eventually I'll get to it. Looking forward to changes, around
here if not out there, after the Poll.
New records reviewed this week:
- Jacqui Dankworth: Windmills (2024, Perdido): [sp]: B+(*)
- Djrum: Meaning's Edge (2024, Houndstooth, EP): [sp]: B+(**)
- Taylor Eigsti: Plot Armor (2024, GroundUP Music): [sp]: B-
- Floros Floridis/Matthias Bauer/Joe Hertenstein: Temporal Driftness (2023 [2024], Evil Rabbit): [sp]: A-
- Joe Fonda Quartet: Eyes on the Horizon (2023 [2024], Long Song): [cd]: A-
- Ben Goldberg/Todd Sickafoose/Scott Amendola: Here to There (2024, Secret Hatch): [cd]: B+(**)
- Mickey Guyton: House on Fire (2024, Capitol Nashville): [sp]: B+(*)
- Tom Harrell: Alternate Summer (2022 [2024], HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
- Cliff Korman Trio: Urban Tracks (2021 [2024], SS): [cd]: B+(*) [12-06]
- Marie Krüttli Trio: Scoria (2023 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(*)
- Kendrick Lamar: GNX (2024, PGLang/Interscope): [sp]: B+(***)
- Hayoung Lyou: The Myth of Katabasis (2024, Endectomorph Music): [cd]: B+(**)
- Rob Mazurek Quartet: Color Systems (2022 [2024], RogueArt): [cdr]: B+(***)
- Kresten Osgood Quintet: Live at H15 Studio (2017 [22024], ILK Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Reut Regev's R*Time: It's Now: R*Time Plays Doug Hammond (2023 [2024], ESP-Disk): [cd]: B+(***)
- Sara Serpa: Encounters & Collisions (2023 [2024], Biophilia): [cd]: B+(*)
- Skyzoo: Keep Me Company (2024, Old Soul Music): [sp]: B+(***)
- Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh: A Star's Light Does Fall (2024, Slovak Music): [cd]: B+(*)
- Sun Ra Arkestra [Under the Direction of Marshall Allen]: Lights on a Satellite (2024, In+Out): [sp]: A-
- Pat Thomas: The Solar Model of Ibn Al-Shatir (2024, Otoroku): [sp]: B+(**)
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Duck Baker: Breakdown Lane: Free Jazz Guitar 1976-1998 (1976-98 [2024], ESP-Disk): [cd]: B+(**)
- Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (1963-64 [2024], Columbia/Legacy, 6CD): [cd]: A-
- Miles Davis: Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings (1954 [2024], Craft, 2CD): [sp]: A-
- B.B. King: In France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival (1977 [2024], Deep Digs/Elemental Music): [cd]: B+(**)
- Sun Ra: Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (1978 [2024], Resonance, 2CD): [cd]: A-
Old music:
- Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (1961 [2014], Enterplanetary Koncepts): [bc]: A-
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Liz Cole: I Want to Be Happy (self-released) [01-28]
- Eugenie Jones: Eugenie (Open Mic) [01-20]
- Doug MacDonald: Santa Monica Session (DMAC Music) [01-01]
- Rob Mazurek Quartet: Color Systems (RogueArt) [11-11]
- Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message (Circle 9) [11-15]
- Vincenzo Virgillito: Precondition (self-released) [01-01]
Sunday, December 01, 2024
Daily Log
Laura's computer is noisy. Likely culprit is CPU fan. I'm not
sure yet of the CPU, but motherboard is ASUS M5A78-L, uATX, which
supports AM3+ MD 760G + SB710 USB 3.0 HDMI. It looks like Socket
AM3 was launched in 2009 as successor for AM2+, with AM3+ coming
out in 2011. CPUs are AMD Phenom II, Athlon II, FX, and Opteron
3000 Series. It was superseded by AM4 (2016, Ryzen CPUs), and
AM5 (2022, Eyzen/Epyc). AM3+ heatsink "are placed in a rectangle
with lateral lengths of 48 mm and 96 mm for AMD's sockets AM2,
AM2+, AM3, AM3+, and FM2."
AM3+ CPUs are almost all used.
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
November archive
(final).
Tweet: Music Week: 29 albums, 5 A-list
Music: Current count 43229 [43200] rated (+29), 21 [28] unrated (-7).
New records reviewed this week:
- Holman Álvarez: Hidden Objects (2023 [2024], Sunnyside): [cd]: B+(**)
- Awon x Phoniks: Golden Era 2 (2024, Don't Sleep): [sp]: A-
- Peter Bernstein: Better Angels (2024, Smoke Sessions): [sp]: B+(*)
- Betty Bryant: Lotta Livin' (2024, Bry-Mar Music): [sp]: A-
- Scott Colley/Edward Simon/Brian Blade: Three Visitors (2024, GroundUP Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Steve Davis: We See (2024, Smoke Sessions): [sp]: B+(**)
- Elucid: Revelator (2024, Fat Possum): [sp]: A-
- Everliven Sound & Slimline Mutha: Echo Chamber (2024, self-released): [sp]: B+(***)
- Ruth Goller: Skyllumina (2024, International Anthem): [sp]: B
- Paul Heaton: The Mighty Several (2024, EMI): [sp]: B+(**)
- John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband: Colouring Hockets (2023 [2024], Plexatonic): [cd]: B+(***)
- Snorre Kirk: What a Day! (2024, Stunt): [sp]: B+(***)
- Lemadi Trio: Canonical Discourse (2024, A New Wave of Jazz Axis): [cd]: B+(**)
- Peter Lenz: Breathe: Music for Large Ensembles (2023 [2024], GambsART): [cd]: B
- David Maranha/Rodrigo Amado: Wrecks (2023 [2024], Nariz Entupido): [cd]: B+(***)[10-25]
- Claire Martin: Almost in Your Arms (2024, Stunt): [sp]: B+(*)
- Nuse Tyrant: Juxtaposed Echoes (2024, M25): [sp]: B+(**)
- Adonis Rose Trio + One: For All We Know (2024, Storyville): [sp]: B+(**)
- Sophie: Sophie (2021 [2024], Transgressive): [sp]: B+(**)
- Spinifex: Undrilling the Hole (2024, TryTone): [cd]: B+(***)
- Tonus: Analog Deviation (2023 [2024], A New Wave of Jazz Axis): [cd]: B+(*)
- Transition Unit: Fade Value (2023 [2024], A New Wave of Jazz Axis): [cd]: B+(***)
- Twin Talk: Live (2023 [2024], Shifting Paradigm): [sp]: B+(**)
- Tyler, the Creator: Chromakopia (2024, Columbia): [sp]: B+(***)
- Martina Verhoeven Quintet: Indicator Light (Live at Paradox 2023) (2023 [2024], A New Wave of Jazz Axis): [cd]: A-
- Cole Williams: How We Care for Humanity (2024, Four Corner): [sp] **
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Emily Remler: Cookin' at the Queens (1984-88 [2024], Resonance, 2CD): [cd]: A- [11-29]
- McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966 [2024], Blue Note): [sp]: B+(***)
Old music:
- Elucid: I Told Bessie (202, Backwoodz Studioz): [sp]: B+(***)
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy, 6CD) [11-08]
- Ginetta's Vendetta: Fun Size (Kickin' Wiccan Music) [11-24]
- Roberto Magris: Freedom Is Peace (JMood) [12-01]
Monday, November 25, 2024
Daily Log
Knee still bothering me. I wrote to doctor: [redacted]
I went to see the doctor late afternoon. He thought the wound was
better, but offered another course of antibiotics (same as before).
I got that filled, picked up some gyros, came home and walked the
dog, then went out shopping for closet lumber, also groceries.
Friday, November 22, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
November archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 47 albums, 3 A-list
Music: Current count 43200 [43153] rated (+47), 28 [26] unrated (+2).
New records reviewed this week:
- Eric Alexander: Timing Is Everything (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Eric Alexander/Mike LeDonne: Together (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Michaël Attias: Quartet Music Vol. I + II: LuMiSong + Kardamon Fall (2021-22 [2024], Out of Your Head, 2CD): [cd]: A-
- Michaël Attias: Quartet Music Vol. I: LuMiSong (2021 [2024], Out of Your Head): [cd]: B+(***)
- Michaël Attias: Quartet Music Vol. II: Kardamon Fall (2022 [2024], Out of Your Head): [cd]: B+(***)
- George Cables: I Hear Echoes (2024, HighNote): [sp]: B+(***)
- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Wild God (2024, Bad Seed/Play It Again Sam): [sp]: C+
- Confidence Man: 3AM (La La La) (2024, Chaos/Polydor): [sp]: B+(***)
- Day Dream: Duke & Strays Live: Works by Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn (2023 [2024], Corner Store Jazz, 2CD): [cd]: B+(**)
- Hania Derej Quartet: Evacuation (2023 [2024], ZenneZ): [sp]: B+(***)
- Elin Forkelid: Songs to Keep You Company on a Dark Night (2024, Sail Cabin): [sp]: B+(**)
- The Fugs: Dancing in the Universe (2023, Fuga): [bc]: B+(**)
- Halsey: The Great Impersonator (2024, Columbia): [sp]: A-
- The Hard Quartet: The Hard Quartet (2024, Matador): [sp]: B+(*)
- Alex Heitlinger Jazz Orchestra: Slush Pump Truck Stop (2024, SteepleChase): [sp]: B
- Cassandra Jenkins: My LIght, My Destroyer (2024, Dead Oceans): [sp]: B+(*)
- The Jesus and Mary Chain: Glasgow Eyes (2024, Fuzz Club): [sp]: B+(**)
- Samara Joy: Portrait (2024, Verve): [sp]: B+(*)
- The Linda Lindas: No Obligation (2024, Epitaph): [sp]: B+(**)
- Moby: Always Centered at Night (2024, Mute): [sp]: B+(*)
- Monolake: Studio (2024, Imbalance Computer Music): [sp]: B+(***)
- Thurston Moore: Flow Critical Lucidity (2024, Daydream Library Series): [sp]: B+(**)
- Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(**)
- The Necks: Bleed (2024, Northern Spy): [sp]: B+(*)
- The New Mastersounds: Old School (2024, One Note): [sp]: B+(*)
- Peter Perrett: The Cleansing (2024, Domino): [sp]: B+(**)
- Arun Ramamurthy Trio: New Moon (2023 [2024], Greenleaf Music): [sp]: B+(***)
- Remedy [Thomas Heberer/Joe Fonda/Joe Hertenstein]: Live at Jazzkammer (2024, 420 CPW): [bc]: B+(**)
- Soccer Mommy: Evergreen (2024, Loma Vista): [sp]: B+(*)
- Tyshawn Sorey/Adam Rudolph: Archaisms II (2023 [2024], Meta): [sp]: B+(**)
- Squarepusher: Dostrotime (2024, Warp): [sp]: B+(***)
- Peter Van Huffel/Meinrad Kneer/Yorgos Dimitriadis: Synomilies (2022 [2024], Evil Rabbit): [bc]: B+(**)
- Friso van Wijck: Friso van Wijck's Candy Container (2024, TryTone): [cd]: B+(***)
- Andy Wheelock/Whee 3 Trio: In the Wheelhouse (2024, OA2): [cd]: B+(**)
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Roy Hargrove's Crisol: Grande-Terre (1998 [2024], Verve): [sp]: B+(***)
- Andrew Hill: A Beautiful Day Revisited (2002 [2024], Palmetto, 2CD): [cd]: B+(**)
- Charlie Parker: Bird in Kansas City (1941-51 [2024], Verve): [sp]: B+(**)
- Bernie Senensky: Moment to Moment (2001-20 [2023], Cellar Music) **
Old music:
- Eric Alexander: Man With a Horn (1997, Milestone): [yt]: B+(***)
- Blue Muse ([2019], Blues Maker Foundation): [bc]: B+(***)
- Andrew Hill: But Not Farewell (1990 [1991], Blue Note): [sp]: B+(**)
- Ruckus Juice & Chittlins: The Great Jug Bands Vol. 1 [1927-35 [1998], Yazoo): [sp]: B+(***)
- Ruckus Juice & Chittlins: The Great Jug Bands Vol. 2 )1927-35 [1998], Yazoo): [sp]: A-
- Trout Fishing in America: Safe House (2022, Trout): [sp]: B+(*)
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Holman Álvarez: Hidden Objects (Sunnyside) [11-08]
- Duck Baker: Breakdown Lane: Free Jazz Guitar 1976-1998 (ESP-Disk) [11-01]
- Joe Fahey: Andrea's Exile (Rough Fish): LP+CD
- Ben Goldberg/Todd Sickafoose/Scott Amendola: Here to There (Secret Hatch) [10-25]
- John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband: Colouring Hockets (Plexatonic) [11-15]
- Cliff Korman Trio: Urban Tracks (SS) [12-06]
- David Maranha/Rodrigo Amado: Wrecks (Nariz Entupido) [10-25]
- Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh: A Star's Light Does Fall (Slovak Music) [11-01]
Daily Log
I posted this comment onto my "(Not Yet) Music Week"
Facebook post:
I finally sent out 228 Poll invitations yesterday. When I cloned the
Mid-Year letter template, I forgot to edit the subject line, so they
all went out saying "Mid-Year." I also got 7 or 8 bounces, plus an
auto-response notice from someone who can't be bothered to just ignore
email. The experience was even worse than I expected (remembered?),
and my efforts to figure out a better way have been fruitless so
far. I'm pretty frazzled, and day is over half-shot, but I've
collected the album list (47) for an updated post tonight (same link,
more stuff), probably late tonight (depends on how much I feel like
griping about, which right now is a lot). Not much good news to
report. Nick Cave is currently a C+, but if I had to hear it again,
it's more likely to drop than improve. Second highest previously
unheard meta-rated album was Cassandra Jenkins, a B+(**). First Poll
ballot had 7 albums I hadn't heard. Those I've since checked out are
mid-B+.
Monday, November 18, 2024
(Not Yet) Music Week
Blog link.
This week's Music Week is being held hostage until I get my
initial round of Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll ballot invites
sent out (aiming for Tuesday, but probably Wednesday). Meanwhile,
you can probably find some new records in the
November Streamnotes
archive. Not a particularly big week so far, but I'm working on
it.
My main reason for posting anything at all today is that I
have some links to share:
The 19th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll Begins: I posted
this on Saturday, after sending out initial mail to my GNU Mailman
list on Thursday. I don't have much more news yet, but wanted to make
sure this much got some distribution. More in a couple days, but
meanwhile, check out the Poll
website. Focus right
now is to provide information for voters. As we're currently updating
the invite list, please feel free to suggest someone (even yourself).
I also have set up the poll admin/discussion group, so if you're
interested in following our deliberations (even if you're not a
voter), let me know.
Q and A: Two recent questions answered (well, sort of).
Speaking of Which: No new one (now or most likely ever), but I
keep finding things that seem like they belong here (and I feel like
saving), so this swan song has grown to 317 links, 33193 words.
The Best Non-Jazz Albums of 2024: Way back in July, in conjunction
with my
Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, I compiled
The Best Jazz Albums of 2024, and I've been trying to update it
as we go, but I put off doing the Non-Jazz complement until now.
So, 47 A-list new releases (+ 3 from 2023) and 7 reissues/historic
music, which rather pales in comparison to 85 A-list new jazz (+3
from 2023) and 18 reissues/historic (+1 from 2023). Most years I
have a large jazz/non-jazz ratio when I initially compile the lists,
but that narrows as I catch up with the EOY lists. But I don't think
I've ever had this much imbalance before.
Metacritic Aggregate: I started working on this mid-year, but
haven't done a very good job of keeping it up to date. But this week
I added the first EOY lists from Uncut, Mojo, and Bleep. This is not
a huge priority for me, but it does help guide me to things to check
out. There is also a
new compilations of old/various music file, but it is very short
(44 albums, vs. 1210 for new releases).
I ran the ratings counter and so far I'm +30 on the week, but
only one A- so far. Unrated is -1, but I still have some unpacking
to do.
Back to work now.
Saturday, November 16, 2024
The 19th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll Begins
Blog link.
Friday, November 15, 2024
Daily Log
Back on [11-12], I posted this to
Facebook:
I thought I'd mention here that I just updated my Speaking of Which
from Monday, which covers the fallout of Tuesday's election, as well
as other atrocities. I've been doing these weekly posts for many
years now, but this is my biggest one ever, and I think has a lot
of interesting reports and thoughts. I've also decided it will be
my last one, lest it become an all-consuming black hole. Music Week
will continue (at least to 2025), and I have other projects I've
been meaning to get to. So I'll be OK. Not so sure about you, but
what I've been doing doesn't seem to have been helping much.
I did get a couple of nice comments:
Rannfrid Thelle: I've only just started reading this,
Tom, it is so good! I have a tab open so I can keep coming back
to it.
Greg Morton: I intentionally want to make this public,
so here I go. I think you should electronically bind all of your
Speaking of Which into a single e-book and send it, without having
even been asked, to the university Political Science department of
your choice (or departmentS, plural) so that it/they can be used
by future students who research this era. What you have captured
is so big, and so historically important (I want to say crucial)
that it needs to be saved. You will probably say that you were
just one person, one voice, so why would your opinions matter to
future scholars, but please know that you spoke loudly and
passionately for many of us and we need to have those words
remembered. Thanks.
Iris Demento: Tom Hull's is one of the best analyses
I've seen and is helping me focus.
I also got mail through the Q&A form, that related to the
post:
Gary Finney: []
It is with great sadness that I read your dismay with the state of
politics in this country. You are not alone. Individual people can
exhibit behavior so irrational that they are deemed insane.
Collectively, this country seems to have gone insane.
I have enjoyed reading your astute, erudite observations on
political science/social justice issues via Speaking Of Which
and will miss your weekly posts, should you indeed bring things
to a halt.
I feel that we're we to live in the same city, we'd probably
be friends. Our paths as rock 'n rollers who veered into a jazz
direction is a commonality, as is our interest in politics.
Being four years your junior, I too have been indelibly shaped
by the sixties.
So, thank you for all of your posts. You are a beacon of hope
in a world whose prospects seem to get dimmer by the day. I look
forward to participating, once again, in the Francis Davis poll.
Ziggy Schouws: [11-15]
I hope I misread your doubts about continuing Speaking if Which,
for me it's the ideal start of the week, to have an overview of all
the important topics in one click (and to realize that things can
always be worse . . . ).
Getting reports back from Dr. Tibbe.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Daily Log
Went to see doctor today. Was overdue for checkup, so they did
mucho lab work, but immediarte issue was knee abrasion from fall
a few days back. Didn't seem to be healing, so they recommended
antibacterial cream, with a course of antibiotics if that fails.
Will find out about tests later. Meanwhile, I filed this tweet:
Went to Dr. office today, and had to answer standard mental health
assessments: Q: have you been depressed lately; A: only since election.
Second Q on inactivity, same answer. Nurse wrote down NO to both,
without tipping her own hand. Hard to be insane when world is.
Later in the day, regarding Huckabee's appointment as Ambassador
to Israel, I tweeted:
No sooner than we vote against World War III, and Trump appoints
America's first-ever Ambassador to Armageddon. Talk about bait and
switch!
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Daily Log
With Speaking of Which canned, the obvious option is to save things
that I want to save in the Notebook, which means more and more frequent
Daily Logs.
This is from Michael Tatum, in
Facebook: [11-07]
The smug complacency of the Democrats thought there was portent in
this and so many other Trump moments from the last few months, where
Trump insulted Detroit in a city thirty miles away, to one of his
dwindling crowds. No way they could have voted for that unhinged
weirdo loser, right?
Wrong. What Democrats don't understand is that Trump's biggest
demographic -- middle-aged "Christian" males without a college
education -- would have voted for him no matter what. They
share his resentments -- toward immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ
people, and most of all, women.
This is a truly sad day for America. In the next four years,
rich will get their spoils, everyone else the crumbs, which is
always the Republican's game plan. Has been for decades. Women's
rights will continue to be curtailed, as will those of the LGBTQ.
Our policies toward immigrants (at least, the ones from countries
that aren't Norway) will become even crueler.
I have no idea what is in store for this country, but if Project
2025 is any indication, even if they enact half of that garbage into
law we're headed toward fascism. Which I'm beginning to think is
attractive to a lot of people -- until they realize their rights,
or those of someone they care about, will be stripped away, too.
As for myself, I think I will renew my Planned Parenthood membership,
maybe support an LGBTQ association in a vulnerable community. Neither
of those issues directly affect me, but that's the point of life isn't
it? Reaching out to those who need your help, even if you don't directly
benefit from it?
Lastly, to all those conservatives who go on about "peace and love,"
a phrase that has been co-opted by a lot of hateful, sexist, xenophobic,
homophobic, transphobic people who are everything but peaceful or loving
to people that are "different" from them. Read a book -- a real one. You
might learn why people like me are horrified by a large portion of
this country.
Facebook post by Sal Boca, who learned a bit about Georgian food
while reporting on their election:
Thank you for the kind birthday wishes everyone. I just got back
from a reporting trip to the country Georgia so I made a Georgian
Supra (feast) for my family and close friends. We drank a lot of
toasts of Georgian wine, so many we forgot to take a picture.
Everything is family style at a supra, with all of the side/veg
dishes served room temp or cold and on the table at all times. This
included eggplant and peppers, cooked and raw salad (one dish with
both ingredients), various pickles, beets in sour plum sauce, roasted
pumpkin, and the national side dish of cucumber, tomato, and onion
in a zesty walnut garlic sauce.
And fresh bread hot from the oven of course. The bread culture
in Georgia is the best in the world. I'll fight any German or
Frenchman on the block over this.
These are sampled at will between the hot meat courses, starting
with a beef and tomato stew called chashashuli, a sausage and lamb
meatball course served with a cold yogurt sauce, and duck breast in
blackberry sauce.
After all that no one had room for khachapuri or khinkali so we
saved those for a later date.
The election didn't exactly turn out like we had hoped but that
wasn't too much of a surprise. We have the next four years to deal
with that.
What's not going to change is my commitment to my people and
celebrating our lives every single day. The bullshit narcissists
who 'run' our country have never valued the people or things that
are most important to me. I do not look to them for guidance or
acceptance. I'm going to resist this dumbass just like the last
one and the one before that.
One way to do that, my favorite way, is to make sure we all
have a place where we can value each other in the private, personal
ways that actually matter. If you didn't make it to the supra this
year just know you're already invited to the next one.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
November archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 35 albums, 5 A-list
Music: Current count 43153 [43118] rated (+35), 26 [36] unrated (-10).
New records reviewed this week:
- Ashtyn Barbaree: Sent Through the Ceiling (2024, Artists 3 60): [cd]: B+(***)
- Big Bambi: Compositions for Bass Guitar & Bassoon, Vol. I (2022 [2024], Greene Avenue Music): [cd]: B+(**)
- Steve Coleman and Five Elements: PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (2024, Pi): [cd]: A-
- Caleb Wheeler Curtis: The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (2024, Imani, 2CD): [cd]: A-
- Andy Haas: For the Time, Being (2024, Resonant Music): [cd]: B+(*)
- Laird Jackson: Life (2024, self-released): [cd]: B+(*)
- Ariel Kalma/Jeremiah Chiu/Marta Sofia Honer: The Closest Thing to Silence (2022-23 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(**)
- Pandelis Karayorgis/George Kokkinaris: Out From Athens (2023 [2024], Driff): [bc]: B+(**)
- Rebecca Kilgore: A Little Taste: A Tribute to Dave Frishberg (2023 [2024], Cherry Pie Music)
- Lady Gaga: Harlequin (2024, Interscope): [sp]: B+(*)
- Brian Lynch: 7X7BY7 (2021 [2024], Holistic MusicWorks): [cd]: B+(***)
- Lyrics Born: Goodbye, Sticky Rice (2024, Mobile Home): [sp]: A-
- JD McPherson: Nite Owls (2024, New West): [sp]: B+(**)
- Willie Nelson: Last Leaf on the Tree (2024, Legacy): [sp]: B+(**)
- Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra (2024, Red Hot +): [sp]: B+(**)
- Cene Resnik/Samo Salamon/Samuel Ber: The Thinkers (Samo): [bc]: B++(***)
- Kevin Sun: Quartets (2022-23 [2024], Endectomorph Music, 2CD): [cd]: B+(***)
- Western Jazz Collective: The Music of Andrew Rathbun (2021 [2024], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
- Tucker Zimmerman: Dance of Love (2024, 4AD): [sp]: A-
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Black Artist Group: For Peace and Liberty: In Paris, Dec 1972 (1972 [2024], WeWantSounds): [sp]: B+(***)
Old music:
- Steve Coleman Group: Motherland Pulse (1985, JMT): [yt]: B+(***)
- Steve Coleman and Five Elements: The Sonic Language of Myth: Believing, Learning, Knowing (1999, RCA Victor): [yt]: B+(***)
- Steve Coleman and Five Elements: Drop Kick (1992, RCA/Novus): [sp]: B+(*)
- Steve Coleman and the Mystic Rhythm Society: Myths, Modes and Means (1995, Groovetown/RCA/BMG France): [sp]: B+(**)
- Steve Coleman and Metrics: The Way of the Cipher (1995, Groovetown/RCA/BMG France): [sp]: B+(**)
- Steve Coleman: Invisible Paths: First Scattering (2007, Tzadik): [sp]: B+(*)
- Rebecca Kilgore and Dave Frishberg: Not a Care in the World (1995, Arbors): [sp]: B+(**)
- Rebecca Kilgore & Dave Frishberg: The Starlit Hour (1997 [2001], Arbors): [r]: B+(***)
- Rebecca Kilgore: Moments Like This (1998-99 [2001], HeavyWood Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Rebecca Kilgore and the Bobby Gordon Trio: Make Someone Happy: A Further Remembrance of Maxine Sullivan, Volume Two (2004 [2005], Audiophile): [sp]: A-
- Rebecca Kilgore: Rebecca Kilgore's Lovefest at the Pizzarelli Party (2010, Arbors): [r]: B+(**)
- Rebecca Kilgore: With Hal Smith's Rhythmakers (2015, Audiophile): [r]: B+(*)
- Rebecca Kilgore With Hal Smith's Rhythmakers: Sings the Music of Fats Waller (2016, Audiophile): [sp]: B+(***)
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Michaël Attias: Quartet Music Vol. I: LuMiSong (Out of Your Head) [03-01]
Monday, November 11, 2024
Speaking of Which
Blog link.
Draft file opened 2024-11-06 2:00 PM.
Tuesday, November 05, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
November archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 19 albums, 3 A-list
Music: Current count 43118 [43099] rated (+19), 36 [41] unrated (-5).
We got to the polls later than I expected, so I had some time
early today to fiddle with, and I used it to add more links to
yesterday's
Speaking of Which (up to 159, from 135). Vox emailed me a
couple election anxiety/guide articles, so I figured it wouldn't
hurt to cite them. I sometimes imagine going back through the
blog for notes to write a journal-type book, so it's nice to
have a fairly competent record, even if much of it is of passing
interest. My latest concept for such a book would be subtitled
What I Learned During the 2024 Election. Most of what I've
learned is how irrational people can be in weighing matters of
politics. Main downside to developing that idea is that most of
my notes are from people who are well-informed and exceptionally
rational. Explaining the 40-60% of Americans who are supposed to
be voting for Trump today is going to take more research, and
it's not likely to be pretty.
I'm a bit surprised that the rated count this week is only 19,
but we're a couple days short of a week, and in a bit of a down
cycle. I am finally nearing the end of my bedroom/closet project.
I did some more caulking today, around the trim (which already
has one coat, but in various places needs another). I'll sand
and paint tomorrow. It'll probably take another day to touch up
spots where I colored outside the lines. I'm a pretty lousy
painter, so that happens more often than it should. That leaves
the problem with the ceiling (masking tape pulled down strips
and splotches of paint), but I'm going to kick that back to the
guy who plastered and painted the ceiling in the first place,
and it shouldn't take him long.
I got all the paneling up in the closet, including new boards for
the ceiling. I put the lights back up this afternoon. Next thing
there is to cut some trim boards and screw them in place. The boards
are prepped, and most of that should go pretty quickly. I don't have
a plan for finishing it yet, but we don't have to do that part before
moving back into the bedroom (actually, more of an office, but it
has a futon, which works for a spare bed). What we will still need
to do is cleaning, sorting, and reorganizing, but that's an ongoing
process everywhere.
My next big project should be the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll.
I'll try to set up the website next week, and get invites out the
week after. Biggest uncertainty there is communications, as my email
list last year (and mid-year) proved pretty unreliable. That probably
means paying for a commercial list provider, as it's almost impossible
to avoid spam blacklisting on your own -- presumably, that is doable
if that's your business, otherwise you wouldn't have a business. We
also need to vet new critics. I'm thinking of setting up an advisory
board to help on things like that, as well as to sanity-check my own
thinking and coding. If you're interested in helping, or just know
of a critic we should be polling, please get in touch.
As for my own writing, the next two months should be a good time
to re-evaluate what, if anything, I still might try to work on.
I've resisted checking the news all evening, which should hold
out until I get this (and the Speaking of Which) updates up, around
11 PM CDT.
New records reviewed this week:
- T.K. Blue: Planet Bluu (2022 [2024], Jaja): [cd]: B+(**)
- John Cale: POPtical Illusion (2024, Domino): [sp]: B+(***)
- Avishai Cohen: Ashes to Gold (2023 [2024], ECM): [sp]: B+(**)
- The Cure: Songs of a Lost World (2024, Fiction): [sp]: B+(*)
- The Dare: What's Wrong With New York? (2024, Republic): [sp]: B+(*)
- Joe Fahey: Andrea's Exile (2024, Rough Fish): [sp]: B+(**)
- Nubya Garcia: Odyssey (2024, Concord Jazz): [sp]: B
- Rich Halley 4: Dusk and Dawn (2023 [2024], Pine Eagle): [cd]: A-
- Jazzmeia Horn: Messages (2024, Empress Legacy): [sp]: B+(**)
- Randy Ingram: Aries Dance (2024, Sounderscore): [cd]: B+(**)
- Ryan Keberle & Catharsis: Music Is Connection (2023-24 [2024], Alternate Side): [cd]: B+(***)
- Jason Keiser: Kind of Kenny (2024, OA2): [cd]: B+(**)
- Laura Marling: Patterns in Repeat (2024, Chryalis/Partisan): [sp]: B+(**)
- Thollem McDonas: Infinite-Sum Game (2023 [2024], ESP-Disk): [cd]: B+(***)
- Nacka Forum: Peaceful Piano (2024, Moserobie): [cd]: A-
- NLE Choppa: Slut Szn (2024, Warner, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
- Pony Boy All-Star Big Band: This Is Now: Live at Boxley's (2024, Pony Boy): [cd]: B+(**)
- Brandon Seabrook: Object of Unknown Function (2023 [2024], Pyroclastic): [cd]: B+(*)
- Luke Winslow-King: Flash-a-Magic (2024, Bloodshot): [sp]: B+(*)
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Terry Gibbs Dream Band: Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959 (1959 [2024], Whaling City Sound) [10-11]
Old music:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Lemadi Trio: Canonical Discourse (A New Wave of Jazz Axis) [10-15]
- Tonus: Analog Deviation (A New Wave of Jazz Axis) [10-15]
- Transition Unit: Fade Value (A New Wave of Jazz Axis) [10-15]
- Martina Verhoeven Quintet: Indicator Light (Live at Paradox 2023) (A New Wave of Jazz Axis) [10-15]
Monday, November 04, 2024
Speaking of Which
Blog link.
Draft file opened 2024-11-01 5:10 PM.
Trying to wrap this up Monday afternoon, but I keep sinking into
deep comments, like the
Müller entry below, to which I could easily
add another 3-5 paragraphs. Now I need to take a long break and do
some housework, so I'm not optimistic that I'll be able to add much
before posting late this evening. We're among the seeming minority
who failed to advance vote, so will trek to the polls tomorrow and
do our bit. As I've noted throughout (and even more emphatically in my
Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Harris vs. Trump), I'm voting for
Harris. While Kansas is considered a surefire Trump state -- the
silver lining here is that we're exposed to relatively little
campaigning -- around my neighborhood the Harris signs outnumber
the Trump signs about 10-0 (seriously, I haven't seen a single
one, although I've heard of Harris signs being stolen). Not much
down ballot activity either, although if I find any more Democrats,
I'll vote for them (minimally, our state legislators, who are
actually pretty good).
In the end, it got late and I gave up. Perhaps I'll add some more
tidbits tomorrow, but my more modest plans are to go vote, stop at
a restaurant we like after voting, and finish the bedroom trim paint.
Presumably there'll be a Music Week before the day's done, but not
really a lot to report there.
Soon as I got up Tuesday, I found myself adding a couple "chatter"
items, so I guess I'm doing updates on Election Day. In which case,
I might as well break my rule and include a sample of the extremely
topical items that will become obsolete as soon as they start counting
ballots. I'll keep them segregated here:
Top story threads:
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
Ramzy Baroud: [10-31]
Israel's extremists plan for the day after the genocide: "Gaza is ours,
forever."
Dave DeCamp: [11-05]
Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Gallant: His co-defendant on
genocide charges, they've evidently had a falling out with Gallant
"calling
for Israel to make 'painful concessions' to reach a hostage deal
with Hamas."
Jason Ditz: [11-04]
Israel imposed evacuation in much of East Lebanon, but many attacks
outside those zones.
Anis Germani: [11-04]
Is Israel using depleted uranium to bomb Lebanon? "Israel's use
of 80 bunker-buster bombs to assassinate Hasan Nasrallah has raised
concerns that it is using depleted uranium in its bombardment of
Lebanon. We need an impartial investigation given Israel's track
record of using prohibited weapons."
Tareq S Hajjaj:
Qassam Muaddi:
[11-01]
Israel is hitting a wall in Lebanon. What is its endgame?
"Israel's military campaign in souther Lebanon is failing. As
Israel runs out of options, the US is scrambling for a way out
of the Lebanese quagmire -- including by reviving hopes for a
Gaza ceasefire." I don't trust anyone's reporting on ground
operations in Lebanon, but "quagmire" implies that Israel is
stuck, which I doubt. My impression is that Israel's bombing
and ground operations in Lebanon are wanton and capricious --
things that they mostly do for the hell of it, perhaps to degrade
Hezbollah, or simply to show the Lebanese people the peril they
blame on Hezbollah, but nothing they can't retreat and regroup
from if the going gets a bit sticky. One report cited here:
Amos Harel: [Israel's defense chiefs say fighting
in Gaza and Lebanon has run its course. Does Netanyahu agree?
The implication here is that Israel's defense leaders are finding
it increasingly difficult to justify further operations on defense
grounds. That they are continuing is a purely political directive,
coming from Netanyahu, for purely political ends.
[11-04]
Fake document scandal reveals Israeli efforts to undermine ceasefire
talks: "A scandal over fabricated documents allegedly leaked
by an aid to Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed Israel's efforts to
sabotage Gaza ceasefire negotiations."
Jonathan Ofir: [11-02]
Israeli justice minister calls for 20-year prison sentence for
citizens promoting sanctions against the state: "Israeli
Justice Minister Yariv Levin is demanding a 20-year prison
sentence for citizens who call for sanctions against Israeli
leaders and military personnel."
Fayha Shalash/Mera Aladam: [11-04]
Armed Israeli settlers torch Palestinian homes, cars and olive
trees across West Bank.
America's Israel (and Israel's America):
Michael Arria:
Connor Echols: [10-29]
Nation building is back! "Israel is breaking the Middle East,
and the US is lining up to rebuild it." Well, talking about it,
with lots of strings, including Israel calling all the shots.
Echols used to be a staff writer for Responsible Statecraft,
but seems to have landed in Robert Wright's
Nnzero Substack.
Robert E Hunter: [10-31]
Israel using US election to take free hand against Gaza, Lebanon:
"But even as a lame duck, will Biden do the right thing? Likely
not."
Anatol Lieven/Ted Snider: [10-23]
Biden's 'leadership' is blowing the lid off two wars: "The
president promised to contain Gaza and Ukraine but both conflicts
have been a slow burn to something much bigger."
Justin Logan: [10-15]
No, Iran isn't America's 'greatest adversary': "VP Harris might
have been trying to score points, but her comments are absurd."
Paul R Pillar: [10-21]
41yrs ago: 220 Marines involved in Israel's war on Lebanon killed:
If the US hadn't got ensnared in Tel Aviv's affairs, the bombing
would never have happened."
Mitchell Plitnick: [11-02]
Israel's limited Iran attack reflects a dangerous regional agenda:
"Even though Israel's much-anticipated strike on Iran was smaller
than expected, the threat of a potential global war may actually
be growing."
Dave Reed:
Israel vs. world opinion:
Juan Cole: [11-02]
As UN warns entire population of Gaza is at risk of death, Bill
Clinton says he's not keeping score.
Here's a report on Clinton's campaign for Harris:
Nada Elia: [11-01]
On vote shaming, and lesser evils: "I will not be shamed into
voting for a candidate who supports the genocide of the Palestinian
people, and no one who supports progressive issues should be either."
Hers is a vote against Harris -- not sure in favor of who or what --
and I think we have to respect her conviction, even if one disagrees
with her conclusion. We need people opposed to genocide more than we
need voters for Harris, not that the two need be exclusive. Elections
never just test one red line, so they require us to look beyond simple
moral judgments and make a messy political one. Agreed that Harris
fails on this red line -- as does her principal (and only practical)
opponent, arguably even worse[*] -- but there are other issues at play,
some where Harris is significantly preferable to Trump, none where
the opposite is the case. I don't have any qualms or doubts about
voting for Harris vs. Trump. But I respect people who do.
[*] Harris, like Biden (with greater weight of responsibility),
is a de facto supporter of Israel committing genocide, but she
does not endorse the concept, and remains in denial as to what
is happening (unaccountably and, if you insist, inexcusably, as
there is little room for debating the facts). Trump, on the other
hand, appears to have explicitly endorsed genocide (e.g., in his
comments like "finish the job!"). Both the racism that separates
out groups for collective punishment -- of which genocide is an
extreme degree -- and the penchant for violent punishment are
usually right-wing traits, which makes them much more likely for
Trump than for Harris. And Trump's right-wing political orientation
is more likely to encourage and sustain genocide in the future, as
it derives from his character and core political beliefs.
Some other pieces on the genocide voting conundrum (probably
more scattered about, since I added this grouping rather late):
Chris Hedges: [10-31]
Israel's war on journalism.
There are some 4,000 foreign reporters accredited in Israel to cover
the war. They stay in luxury hotels. They go on dog and pony shows
orchestrated by the Israeli military. They can, on rare occasions,
be escorted by Israeli soldiers on lightning visits to Gaza, where
they are shown alleged weapons caches or tunnels the military says
are used by Hamas.
They dutifully attend daily press conferences. They are given
off-the-record briefings by senior Israeli officials who feed them
information that often turns out to be untrue. They are Israel's
unwitting and sometimes witting propagandists, stenographers for
the architects of apartheid and genocide, hotel room warriors.
Bertolt Brecht acidly called them the spokesmen of the spokesmen.
And how many foreign reporters are there in Gaza? None.
The Palestinian reporters in Gaza who fill the void often pay
with their lives. They are targeted, along with their families,
for assassination.
At least 134 journalists and media workers in Gaza, the West
Bank and Lebanon, have been killed and 69 have been imprisoned,
according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, marking the
deadliest period for journalists since the organization began
collecting data in 1992.
Jonathan Ofir: [10-30]
New UN Special Rapporteur report warns Israel's genocide in Gaza
could be expanding to the West Bank: "A new report by Francesca
Albanese."
Wamona Wadi: [11-03]
CNN finally covered the Gaza genocide -- from the point of view of
Israeli troops with PTSD: Don't laugh. That's a real thing, a
form of casualty that's rarely calculated, or for that matter even
anticipated, by war planners. It should be counted as reason enough
not to start wars that can possibly be avoided, which is pretty much
all of them. Perhaps it pales in comparison to the other forms of
trauma unleashed by war, but it should be recognized and treated
the only way possible, with peace.
Videos: I have very little patience
for watching videos on computer, but the one with Suárez came
highly recommended, and the title shows us something we need to
be talking about now. When I got there, I found much more, so
I noted a few more promising titles (not all vetted, but most
likely to be very informative).
Election notes: First of all, I'm deliberately
not reporting on polling, which right or wrong will be obsolete in a
couple days, and saves me from looking at most of this week's new
reporting. Two more notes this week: this section has sprawled this
week, as I've wound up putting many pieces that cover both candidates,
or otherwise turn on the election results, here; also, I'm struck by
how little I'm finding about down-ballot races (even though a lot of
money is being spent there). I'm sure I could find some surveys, as
well as case stories, but Trump-Harris has so totally overshadowed
them that I'd have to dig. And even though for most of my life, I've
done just that, I feel little compulsion to do so right now.
Thomas B Edsall: [10-30]
Let me ask a question we never had to ask before: A survey of
"a wide range of scholars and political strategists," asking not
who will win, but who will blamed by the losers.
Saleema Gul: [10-31]
A community divided: With Gaza on their minds, Muslim and Arab Americans
weigh their options ahead of election day: Such as they are, which
isn't much.
John Herrman:
Democrats are massively outspending the GOP on social media:
"It's not even close -- $182 million to just $45 million, according
to one new estimate." As I recall, Republicans were way ahead on
social media in 2016 (with or without Russian contributions), and
that was seen as a big factor. (But also, as I recall, Facebook's
algorithms amplified Trump's hateful lies, while Democratic memes
were deemed too boring to bother with.)
Ben Kamisar: [11-03]
Nearly $1 billion has been spent on political ads over the last
week. Most of this money, staggering amounts, is being spent
on down-ballot races, including state referenda.
Howard Lisnoff: [11-01]
We're in some deep shit: Now that's a clickbait title, as you
have to click to get to anything specific, of which many subjects
are possibilities. Turns out it's mostly about Jill Stein: not what
you'd call an endorsement -- his own view is summed up in the Emma
Goldman quote, "if voting changed anything they'd make it illegal" --
but using anti-Stein hysteria as a prism for exposing the vacuousness
of the Democrats, as if Trump wasn't in the race at all (his name only
appears once, in a quote about 2016). Links herein:
Matt Flegenheimer: [10-23]
Jill Stein won't stop. No matter who asks. "People in Stein's
life have implored her to abandon her bid for president, lest she
throw the election to Donald Trump. She's on the ballot in almost
every critical state." This piece is, naturally, totally about
how she might siphon votes from Harris allowing Trump to win,
with nothing about her actual positions, or how they contrast
with those of Harris and Trump. Even Israel only gets a single
offhand mention:
Her bid can feel precision-engineered to damage Ms. Harris with
key subgroups: young voters appalled by the United States' support
for Israel; former supporters of Bernie Sanders's presidential
campaigns who feel abandoned by Democrats; Arab American and
Muslim voters, especially in Michigan, where fury at Ms. Harris
and President Biden has been conspicuous for months.
The Sanders comment seems like a totally gratuitous dig --
he is
on record as solidly for Harris even considering Israel, and
few of his supporters are likely to disagree. The other two points
are the same, and have been widely debated elsewhere (including
several links in this post), but the key thing there is that while
Stein may benefit from their disaffection, she is not the cause of
it. The cause is American support for genocide, which includes
Biden and Harris, but also Trump, Kennedy, and nearly everyone in
Congress.
Glenn Greenwald:
Kamala's worst answers yet? A 38:31 video with no transcript,
something I have zero interest in watching, although the comments
are suitably bizarre (most amusing: "Consequences of an arrogant
oligarchy and descending empire").
Dan Mangan: [11-02]
Shock poll shows Harris leading Trump in Iowa. An exception to
my "no polls stories" policy. My wife mentioned this poll to me, as
a possible reason to vote for Harris in Kansas where she had been
planning on a write-in.
Parker Molloy: [11-04]
We already know one big loser in this election: the mainstream
media: "When your most loyal supporters start questioning
your integrity, that's not just a red flag -- it's a siren blaring
in the newsroom."
Clara Ence Morse/Luis Melgar/Maeve Reston: [10-28]
Meet the megmadonors pumping over $2.5 billion into the election:
The breakdown of the top 50 is $1.6B Republican, $752M Democratic,
with $214M "supportive of both parties" (mostly crypto and realtor
groups). The top Democratic booster is Michael Bloomberg, but his
$47.4M this time is a drop in the bucket compared to the money he
spent in 2020 to derail Bernie Sanders.
Nicole Narea: [11-01]
2024 election violence is already happening: "How much worse
could it get if Trump loses?" I'm more worried about: how much
worse could it get if Trump wins? It's not just frustration that
drives violence. There's also the feeling that you can get away
with it -- one example of which is the idea that Trump will pardon
you, as he's already promised to the January 6 hoodlums. Nor should
we be too sanguine in thinking that frustration violence can only
come from the right. While rights are much more inclined to violence,
anyone can get frustrated and feel desperate, and the right has
offered us many examples of that turning violent.
Margaret Simons: [11-02]
Can democracy work without journalism? With the US election upon
us, we may be about to find out: "Most serious news organisations
are not serving the politically disengaged, yet it's these voters
who will decide the next president." Seems like a good question,
but much depends on what you mean by journalism. Although I have
many complaints about quality, quantity doesn't seem to be much
of a problem -- except, as compared to the quantity of PR, which
is over the top, and bleeding into everything else. As for "soon
find out," I doubt that. While honest journalism should have
decided this election several months ago, the commonplace that
we're now facing a "toss up" suggests that an awful lot of folks
have been very poorly informed. Either that, or they don't give
a fuck -- (not about their votes, but about what consequences they
may bring -- which is a proposition that is hard to dismiss. There
are many things that I wish reporters would research better, but
Donald Trump isn't one of them.
Jeffrey St Clair: [11-01]
Notes on a phony campaign: strange days.
Margaret Sullivan: [11-04]
The candidates' closing campaign messages could not be more different:
Well, aside from automatic support for America's global war machine,
extending even to genocide in Israel, and the unexamined conviction
that "the business of America is business," and that government's
job is to promote that business everywhere. But sure, there are
differences enough to decide a vote on: "There is hateful rhetoric
and threats of retribution from one side, and messages of inclusion
and good will from the other." But haven't we seen this "bad cop,
good cop" schtick before? Or "speak softly, but carry a big stick"?
These are the sort of differences that generate a lot of heat, but
very little light.
Zoe Williams: [10-31]
An excess of billionaires is destabilising politics -- just as academics
predicted: "Politicians have always courted the wealthy, but Elon
Musk and co represent a new kind of donor, and an unprecedented danger
to democracy."
Endorsements:
Trump:
The New Republic: [10-21]
The 100 worst things Trump has done since descending that escalator:
"Some were just embarrassing. Many were horrific. All of them should
disqualify him from another four years in the White House." I ran this
last week, but under the circumstances let's run it again. If I had
the time, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to write up 20+ more, many of
which would land in the top 20. For instance, Israel only merits 2
mentions, at 76 and 71, and the latter was more about him attacking
George Soros: no mention of moving the embassy to Jerusalem, or many
other favors that contributed to the Oct. 7 revolt and genocide.
Ditching the Iran deal came in at 8, but no mention of
assassinating Iranian general Qasem Soleimani (I hope I don't
need to explain why). There is only one
casual reference to Afghanistan (22. Escalates the drone war), none
that he protracted the war four years, knowing that Biden would be
blamed for his surrender deal to the Taliban. He gets chided for his
being "pen pals with Kim Jong Un," but not for failing to turn his
diplomacy into an actual deal. Not all of these items belong in a
Trivial Pursuit game, but most would be overshadowed by real policy
disasters if reporters could look beyond their Twitter feeds.
Zack Beauchamp: [11-02]
It's not alarmist: A second Trump term really is an extinction-level
threat to democracy: "Why a second Trump term is a mortal threat
to democracy -- though perhaps not the way you think." Having written
a recent book --
The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition
Swept the World (I bought a copy, but haven't gotten into it
yet -- on this broad theme, he predictably offers us a rehash with a
minor update. It's nice to see him dialing back the alarmism, enough
to see the real longer-term erosion:
If the first Trump term was akin to the random destruction of a toddler,
a second would be more like the deliberate demolition of a saboteur.
With the benefit of four years of governing experience and four more
years of planning, Trump and his team have concluded that the problem
with their first game of Jenga was that they simply did not remove
enough of democracy's blocks.
I do not think that, over the course of four more years, Trump could
use these plans to successfully build a fascist state that would jail
critics and install himself in power indefinitely. This is in part
because of the size and complexity of the American state, and in part
because that's not really the kind of authoritarianism that works in
democracies nowadays.
But over the course of those years, he could yank out so many of
American democracy's basic building blocks that the system really
could be pushed to the brink of collapse. . . .
A second Trump term risks replacing Rawls's virtuous cycle with
a vicious one. As Trump degrades government, following the Orbánist
playbook with at least some success, much of the public would
justifiably lose their already-battered faith in the American
system of government. And whether it could long survive such a
disaster is anyone's guess.
While "toddler" is certainly apt, eight years later he hasn't
changed that aspect much, and in many ways he's even regressed.
His narcissistic petulance is ever more pronounced, which may be
why many people dismiss the threat of a second term as hysteria.
No matter how naughty he wants to be, even as president he can't
do all that much damage on his own. He looks like, and sounds
like, the same deranged blowhard he's always been, but one thing
is very different this time: he and his activist cult have found
each other. As president, he will empower them from day one, and
they'll not only do things he can only dream of, but they will
feed him new fantasies, carefully tailored to flatter him and
his noxious notions of greatness, because they know, as we all
should realize by now, that job one is stoking his ego.
No doubt much of what they try will blow up before it causes
real harm -- nobody thinks that, even with a Republican Senate,
Big Pharma is going to let RFK Jr. destroy their vaccination cash
cow -- and much of what does get promulgated and/or enacted will
surely blow back, driving his initially record-low approval rates
into the ground. But he knows better than to let GOP regulars
construct "guard rails" with responsible "adults in the room."
The loyalty of everyone he might hire now can be gauged by their
track record -- both what they've said in the past, and how low
they can bow and scrape now (Vance is an example of the latter,
of how to redeem yourself in Trump's eyes, although I'd surmise
that Trump's still pretty wary of him).
PS: Here's a video of Beauchamp talking about his book:
The realignment: The rise of reactionary politics.
Aaron Blake: [11-01]
Trump's latest violent fantasy: "Trump keeps painting pictures
of violence against his foes despite allegations of fascism. And
Republicans keep shrugging."
Sidney Blumenthal: [11-02]
Donald Trump's freakshow continues unabated: "Trump insists on
posing as the salient question of the election: are you crazier
today than you were four years ago?"
Kevin T Dugan: [11-01]
Wall Street's big bet on a Trump win: "Gold, bitcoin, prisons, and
oil are all thought to be the big moneymakers for the financial class
if Trump wins another term." More compelling reasons to sink Trump.
Michelle Goldberg: [11-01]
What I truly expect if an unconstrained Trump retakes power.
Steven Greenhouse: [10-30]
Trump wants you to believe that the US economy is doing terribly. It's
untrue: "Despite his claims to the contrary, unemployment is low,
inflation is way down, and job growth is remarkably strong." But unless
you're rich, can you really tell? And if you're rich, the choice comes
down to: if you merely want to get richer, you'd probably be better
off with the Democrats (who have consistently produced significantly
higher growth rates, ever since the Roaring '20s crashed and burned),
but if you really want to feel the power that comes with riches, you
can go with one of your own, and risk the embarrassment. And funny
thing is, once you've decided which side you're on, your view of the
economy will self-confirm. From any given vantage point, you can look
up or down. That's a big part of the reason why these stories, while
true enough, have virtually no impact (except among the neoliberal
shills that write them).
Arun Gupta: [11-01]
Triumph of the swill: A night at the Garden with Trump and MAGA.
About as good a blow-by-blow account as I've seen so far. Ends on
this note:
Eight years wiser and with four years to plan, Trump, Miller, and
the rest of MAGA are telling us they plan to occupy America. They
are itching to use the military to terrify, subjugate, and ethnically
cleanse. The only liberation will be for their violent desires and
that of their Herrenvolk who went wild at mentions of mass deportations.
They loved the idea.
Also by Gupta:
[10-29]
Night of the Fash: "At Madison Square Garden with Trump and his
lineup of third-rate grifters and bigots." An earlier, shorter
draft.
[11-04]
Kamala says she'll "end the war in Gaza": "For opponents of
Israel's genocide, sticking to principles gets results. But for
Harris, her flip-flop is a sign of desperation." I don't really
believe her -- it's going to take more than a sound bite to stand
up to the Israel lobby -- but I would welcome the sentiment, and
not just make fun of her. It may be desperate, but it's also a
tiny bit of timely hope, much more plausible than the magic Trump
imagines.
Margaret Hartmann: [11-01]
Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein: Everything we've learned: "Michael
Wolff claims he has Epstein tapes about Trump, and saw compromising
Trump photos."
Antonia Hitchens:
[11-03]
Trump's final days on the campaign trail: "Under assault from all
sides, in the last weeks of his campaign, the former President speaks
often of enemies from within, including those trying to take his life."
[10-19]
Inside the Republican National Committee's poll-watching army:
"The RNC says it has recruited tens of thousands of volunteers to
observe the voting process at precincts across the country. Their
accounts of alleged fraud could, as one Trump campaign official
put it, "establish the battlefield" for after November 5th."
Chris Hooks: [11-02]
The brainless ideas guiding Trump's foreign policy: "Conservatives
recently gathered in Washington to explain how they would rule the
world in a second Trump term. The result was incoherent, occasionally
frightening, and often very dumb." My first reaction was that one
could just as easily write "The brainless ideas guiding Democrats'
foreign policy," but then I saw that the author is referring to a
specific conference, the Richard Nixon Foundation's "Grand Strategy
Summit."
Marina Hyde: [11-01]
Trump may become president again -- but he's already a useful idiot
to the mega rich: "They make nice with him when it suits, ridicule
him when he's not listening. Their lives are money and gossip -- with
him they get both."
Ben Jacobs: [11-04]
The evolving phenomenon of the Trump rally: "Rarely boring,
always changing, and essential to his appeal."
Hannah Knowles/Marianne LeVine/Isaac Arnsdorf: [11-01]
Trump embraces violent rhetoric, suggests Liz Cheney should have
guns 'trained on her face': "The GOP nominee often describes
graphic and gruesome scenes of crimes and violence, real and
imagined."
Eric Levitz: [11-01]
Elon Musk assures voters that Trump's victory would deliver "temporary
hardship"; "And he's half right." Meaning the hardship, but not
necessarily "temporarily":
Now, as the race enters the homestretch, Musk is trying to clinch
Trump's victory with a bracing closing argument: If our side wins,
you will experience severe economic pain.
If elected, Trump has vowed to put Musk in charge of a "government
efficiency commission," which would identify supposedly wasteful
programs that should be eliminated or slashed. During a telephone
town hall last Friday, Musk said his commission's work would
"necessarily involve some temporary hardship."
Days later, Musk suggested that this budget cutting -- combined
with Trump's mass deportation plan -- would cause a market-crashing
economic "storm." . . .
This is one of the more truthful arguments that Musk has made
for Trump's election, which is to say, only half of it is false.
If Trump delivers on his stated plans, Americans will indeed suffer
material hardship. But such deprivation would neither be necessary
for -- nor conducive to -- achieving a healthier or more sustainable
economy.
After discussing tariffs and mass deportation, Levitz offer a
section on "gutting air safety, meat inspections, and food stamps
will not make the economy healthier." He then offers us a silver
lining:
Trump's supporters might reasonably argue that none of this should
trouble us, since he rarely fulfills his campaign promises and will
surely back away from his economically ruinous agenda once in office.
But "don't worry, our candidate is a huge liar" does not strike me
as a much better message than "prepare for temporary hardship."
Nicholas Liu: [10-31]
Trump nearly slips attempting to enter a garbage truck for a campaign
stunt.
Carlos Lozada: [10-31]
Donald and Melania Trump were made for each other: Basically
a review of her book, Melania. The title could just as
well read "deserve each other," but that suggests a measure of
equality that has never been remotely true.
Melania's relationship with Donald is among the book's haziest features.
She depicts her initial attraction to him in superficial terms: She was
"captivated by his charm," was "drawn to his magnetic energy" and
appreciated his "polished business look." He was not "flashy or dramatic,"
she writes, but "down-to-earth." And though we know how he speaks about
women in private, Melania writes that "in private, he revealed himself
as a gentleman, displaying tenderness and thoughtfulness." The one
example she offers of his thoughtfulness is a bit unnerving: "Donald
to this day calls my personal doctor to check on my health, to ensure
that I am OK and that they are taking perfect care of me."
Clarence Lusane: [10-31]
The black case against Donald Trump: "Hold Trump accountable for
a lifetime of anti-black racism."
Branko Marcetic: [10-31]
'Anti-war' Trump trying to outflank Harris at critical moment:
"It may be a cynical strategy, but he seems to have read the room
while she has chosen a more confused, if not hawkish, path." This
has long been my greatest worry in the election.
Amanda Marcotte:
Peter McLaren: [11-03]
Donald Trump versus a microphone: a head bobbing performance.
Jan-Werner Müller: [11-04]
What if Trump's campaign is cover for a slow-motion coup?
"Even if Trump can't really mobilize large numbers of people to
the streets, just prolonging a sense of chaos might be enough."
Why are people so pre-occupied with imagining present and future
threats that have already happened? I'm sorry to have to break
the news to you, especially given that you think the election
tomorrow is going to be so momentous, but the "slow motion coup"
has already happened. Trump, while easily the worst imaginable
outcome, is just the farce that follows tragedy. The polarization
isn't driven by issues, but by personality types. A lot of people
will vote for Trump not because they agree with him, but because
in a rigged system, he's the entertainment option. He will make
the other people suffer -- his very presence drives the rest of
us crazy -- and Trump voters get off on that. And a lot of people
will vote against him, because they don't want to suffer, or in
some rare cases, they simply don't like seeing other people suffer.
Harris, actually much more than Biden or Obama or either Clinton,
is a very appealing candidate for those people (I can say us here),
but is still can be trusted not to try to undo the coup, to restore
any measure of real democracy, let alone "power to the people."
Here's a way to look at it: skipping past 1776-1860, there have
been two eras in American history, each beginning in revolution,
but which fizzled in its limited success, allowing reaction to set
in, extending the power of the rich to a breaking point. The first
was the Civil War and Reconstruction, which gave way to rampant
corruption, the Gilded Age and Jim Crow, ultimately collapsing
in the Great Depression. The second was the New Deal, which came
up with the idea of countervailing powers and a mixed economy with
a large public sector, mitigating the injustices of laissez-faire
while channeling the energy of capitalism into building a widely
shared Affluent Society.
But, unlike the Marxist model of proletarian revolution, the
New Deal left the upper crust intact, and during WWII they learned
how to use government for their own means. The reaction started to
gain traction after Republicans won Congress in 1946, and teamed
with racist Democrats to pass Taft-Hartley and other measures,
which eventually undermined union power, giving businesses a freer
hand to run things. Then came the Red Scare and the Cold War, which
Democrats joined as readily as Republicans, not realizing it would
demolish their popular base. Dozens of similar milestones followed,
each designed to concentrate wealth and power, which both parties
increasingly catered to, seeing no alternative, and comforted with
the perks of joining the new plutocracy.
One key milestone was the end of the "fairness doctrine" in the
1980s, which surrendered the notion that there is a public interest
as opposed to various private interests, and incentivized moguls to
buy up media companies and turn them into propaganda networks (most
egregiously at Fox, but really everywhere). Another was the end of
limits on campaign finance, which has finally reduced electoral
politics to an intramural sport of billionaires. (Someone should
issue a set of billionaire trading cards, like baseball cards,
with stats and stories on the back. I googled, and didn't find
any evidence of someone doing this.) Aside from Bernie Sanders,
no one runs for president (or much else) without first lining up
a billionaire (or at least a near-wannabe). They have about as
much control over who gets taken seriously and can appear on a
ballot as the Ayatollah does in Iran.
The main thing that distinguishes this system from a coup is
that it's unclear who's ultimately in charge, or even if someone
is. Still, that could be a feature, especially as it allows for
an infinite series of scapegoats when things go wrong -- as, you
may have noticed, they inevitably do.
Nicholas Nehamas/Erica L Green: [10-31]
Trump says he'll protect women, 'like it or not,' evoking his
history of misogyny.
Jonathan O'Connell/Leigh Ann Caldwell/Lisa Rein: [11-02]
Conservative group's 'watch list' targets federal employees for
firing.
Andrew Prokop: [09-26]
The Architect: Stephen Miller's dark agenda for a second Trump
term: "Miller has spent years plotting mass deportation. If
Trump wins, he'll put his plans into action." I think the most
important thing to understand about Miller isn't how malevolent
he is, but that he's the archetype, the exemplar for all future
Trump staff. He clearly has his own deep-seated agenda, but
what he's really excelled at is binding it to Trump, mostly
through utterly shameless flattery.
Aaron Regunberg: [11-01]
Why is the Anti-Defamation League running cover for Trump?
"Yes, it's fair to compare Trump's Madison Square Guarden spectacle
to the Nazi rally of 1939."
Aja Romano/Anna North: [11-05]
The new Jeffrey Epstein tapes and his friendship with Trump,
explained.
Dylan Scott: [10-30]
The existential campaign issue no one is discussing: "What happens
if another pandemic strikes -- and Trump is the president." Mentions
bird flu (H5N1) as a real possibility, but given Trump's worldview
and personal quirks, one could rephrase this as: what happens if any
unexpected problem strikes? I'm not one inclined to look to presidents
for leadership or understanding, but the least we should expect is the
third option in "lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way." Trump
is almost singularly incapable of any of those three options. Moreover,
where most people manage to learn things from experience, Trump jumps
to the wrong conclusions. Case in point: when Trump got Covid-19 in
2016, he could have learned from the experience how severe the illness
is, and how devastating it could be for others; instead, he recovered,
through treatment that wasn't generally available, and came out of it
feeling invincible, holding superspreader events and ridiculing masks.
I've long believed that a big part of his polling bounce was due to
people foolishly mistaking his idiocy for bravura.
Marc Steiner: [10-30]
The failures of liberals and the left have helped Trump's rise:
"Feckless Democrats and a disorganized Left have fed fuel to the MAGA
movement's fire." Interview with Bill Fletcher Jr. and Rick Perlstein.
Kirk Swearingen: [11-02]
Donald Trump was never qualified to be president -- or anything
else: "After a lifetime of lying, failure and incompetence,
this conman stands at the gates of power once again."
Michael Tomasky: [11-04]
Donald Trump has lost his sh*t: "There is no 'context' for
performing fellatio on a microphone. He's gone batty. The only
remaining question is whether enough voters recognize it."
Vance, and other Republicans:
Robert F Kennedy Jr.:
John Ball: [11-03]
My strange year tracking JD Vance, MAGA's future.
Charles Bethea:
Dan Dinello: [11-01]
The super-rich have a long history of backing fascism and buying the
White House: it's happening again: Mostly on Elon Musk, this
time, although the history goes back to Henry Ford.
David Friedlander: [11-03]
Elon Musk's Pennsylvania playbook: "It's secretive and chaotic --
but Trump campaign officials are thrilled."
Sarah Jones: [11-04]
The real class war against normal people.
Andrew Marantz: [11-01]
The Tucker Carlson road show: "After his Fox show was cancelled,
Carlson spent a year in the wilderness, honing his vision of what
the future of Trumpism might look like. This fall, he took his act
on tour."
Rachel Monroe: [10-30]
The conservative strategy to ban abortion nationwide.
Timothy Noah:
How Republicans get away with fleecing their own voters: "Democrats
are highly responsive to voter sentiment. Republicans are not, yet they
win reelection anyway." This could have been an interesting article,
especially if someone figured out why Republicans seem to be so willing
to vote against their own interests, or even if it was just about their
eagerness to suck up Trump merch. But are the Democrats actually better,
at least in terms of attentiveness? They campaign on donor-approved,
poll-tested issues, but rarely entertain anything else, even if it
actually has a lot of popular support.
Harris:
Eric Levitz: [10-22]
If Harris loses, expect Democrats to move right: "Even though
Harris is running as a moderate, progressives are likely to get
blamed for her defeat." I haven't read this, as it's locked up as
a "special feature for Vox Members," but the headline is almost
certainly wrong, and the subhed is very disputable -- I've already
seen hundreds of pieces arguing that if Harris fails, it will be
because she moved too far to the right, and in doing so risked
discredit of principles that actually resonate more with voters.
(And if she wins, it will be because she didn't cut corners like
that on abortion, but stuck to a strong message.) No doubt, if
she loses, the Democrats and "centrist" who never miss a chance
to slam the left will do so again -- you can already see this in
the Edsall piece, op. cit. -- but how credible will they be this
time? (After, e.g., trying to blame first Sanders then Putin for
Hillary Clinton's embarrassing failure in 2016.)
If Harris loses, she will be pilloried for every fault from
every angle, which may be unfair, but is really just a sign of
the times, a rough measure of the stakes. But if Trump wins,
the debate about who to blame is going to become academic real
fast. Republicans are not going to see a divided nation they'd
like to heal with conciliatory gestures. They're going to plunge
the knife deeper, and twist it. And as they show us what the
right really means, they will drive lots of people to the left,
to the people who first grasp what was going wrong, and who
first organized to defend against the right. And the more Trump
and his goons fuck up (and they will fuck up, constantly and
cluelessly), the more people will see the left as prescient and
principled. The left has a coherent analysis of what's gone wrong,
and what can and should be done about it. They've been held back
by the centrists -- the faction that imagines they can win by
appealing to the better natures of the rich while mollifying the
masses with paltry reforms and panic over the right -- but loss
by Harris, following Clinton's loss, will leave them even more
discredited.
As long-term politics, one might even argue that a Trump win
would be the best possible outcome for the left. No one (at least,
no one I know of) on the left is actually arguing that, largely
because we are sensitive enough to acute pain we wish to avoid even
the early throes of fascist dictatorship, and possibly because we
don't relish natural selection winnowing our leadership down to
future Lenins and Stalins. But when you see Republicans as odious as
Bret Stephens and
George Will endorsing Harris, you have to suspect that they
suspect that what I'm saying is true.
Stephen Prager/Alex Skopic: [11-01]
Every Kamala Harris policy, rated. This is a seriously important
piece, the kind of things issues-oriented voters should be crying out
for. But the platforms exists mostly to show that Harris is a serious
issues-oriented candidate, and to give her things to point to when
she pitches various specific groups. Anything that she wants will be
further compromised when the donor/lobbyists and their hired help
(aka Congress, but also most likely her Cabinet and their minions)
get their hands on the actual proposals. Given that the practical
voting choice is just between Harris and Trump, that seems like a
lot of extra work -- especially the parts, like everything having
to do with foreign policy, that will only make you more upset.
Nathan J Robinson introduced this piece with an extended
tweet, making the obvious contrasts to Trump ("a nightmare on
another level"). I might as well
unroll his post here:
The differences between a Trump and Harris presidency: An unprecedented
deportation program with armed ICE agents breaking down doors and tearing
families from their homes in unfathomable numbers, total right-wing
capture of the court system, ending every environmental protection.
Workplace safety rules will be decimated (remember, the right doesn't
believe you should have water breaks in the heat), Israel will be given
a full green light to "resettle" Gaza, all federal efforts against
climate change will cease, international treaties will be ripped up . . .
There will be a war on what remains of abortion rights (if you believe
the right won't try to ban it federally you're the world's biggest sucker),
protests will be ruthlessly cracked down on (with the military probably,
as Tom Cotton advocated), journalists might be prosecuted . . .
Organized labor's progress will be massively set back, with Trump
letting policy be dictated by billionaire psychopaths like Elon Musk
who think workers are serfs. JD Vance endorsed a plan for a massive
war on teachers' unions. Public health will be overseen by RFK
antivaxxers . . .
If you think things cannot be worse, I would encourage you to expand
your imagination. Trump is surrounded by foaming-at-the-mouth
authoritarians who believe they are in a war for the soul of
civilization and want to annihilate the left. I am terrified and
you should be too.
Walz, Biden, and other Democrats:
Ana Marie Cox: [11-01]
Tim Walz has broken Tucker Carlson's brain: "The former Fox News
host is so flummoxed by Kamala Harris's running mate that he's
resorting to immature, homophobic schoolyard taunts."
Ralph Nader: [11-04]
The Democratic Party still can adopt winning agendas. Obviously,
the "there is still time" arguments are finally moot for 2024, not
that the principles are wrong. This makes me wonder what would have
happened had Nader run as a Democrat in 2000, instead of on a third
party. Sure, Gore would have won most of the primaries, but he could
have gotten a sizable chunk of votes, possibly nudged Gore left of
Lieberman and Clinton, and if Gore still lost, set himself up for
an open run in 2004.
Supreme Court, legal matters, and other crimes:
Climate and environment:
Business, labor, and Economists:
Ukraine and Russia:
Aaron Sobczak: [10-31]
Diplomacy Watch: Russia makes substantial gains in Ukraine's east:
"Kyiv is faced with troop shortages, while North Korean soldiers
are sent to assist Moscow."
Constant Méheut/Josh Holder: [10-31]
Russia's swift march forward in U kraine's east: In maps
and charts. Not a huge amount of territory, but since May the
only significant gains have been by Russia.
Julian E Barnes/Eric Schmitt/Helene Cooper/Kim Barker: [11-01]
As Russia advances, US fears Ukraine has entered a grim phase:
"Weapons supplies are no longer Ukraine's main disadvantage, American
military officials say." Surprising pessimism, coming from the American
Pravda.
Eugene Doyle: [11-01]
The Ukraine War is lost. Three options remain.
Julie Hollar: [10-15]
Media consistently in favor of crossing Putin's red lines:
"Outlets refuse to take the Kremlin's warnings seriously."
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos: [10-30]
Nuland & Maddow back at the red string conspiracy board:
"The former State Department official tells MSNBC that Trump, Elon,
and Putin are "all on the same team." I really hate this argument.
I don't like Putin any more than you do, but the US needs to come
up with some way to live and work with Russia, and personal and
political vilification just gets in the way. Even if the intent
here is simply to slam Trump, which in itself if a worthy job,
what's implicit is a hardening of the conflict with Putin, and
that only makes already difficult matters worse.
Elsewhere in the world and/or/in spite of America's empire:
Other stories:
Victoria Chamberlin: [11-02]
How Americans came to hate each other: "And how we can make it
stop." Interview between Noel King and Lilliana Mason, author of
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity (2018), and
Radical American Partisanship (2022, with Nathan P Kalmoe).
She seems to have a fair amount of data, but not much depth. There
is very little hint here that the polarization is asymmetrical.
While both sides see the other as treats to their well-being, the
nature of those threats are wildly different, as are the remedies
(not that the promise of is in any way delivered).
Ezra Klein: [11-01]
Are we on the cusp of a new political order? Interview with
Gary Gerstle, author of
The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World
in the Free Market Era. I've noted him as a "big picture"
historian, but I've never read him. But he makes a fair amount of
sense in talking about neoliberalism here, even though I resist
rooting it my beloved New Left. But I can see his point that a
focus on individual freedom and a critique of the institutions of
the liberal power elite could have served the reactionaries, not
least by pushing some liberals (notably Charles Peters) to refashion
themselves, which proved useful for Democratic politicians from
Jimmy Carter on. This sort of dovetails with my argument that the
New Left was a massive socio-cultural success, winning major mind
share on all of its major fronts (against war and racism, for women
and the environment) without ever seizing power, which was deeply
distrusted. That failure, in part because working class solidarity
was discarded as Old Left thinking, allowed the reactionaries to
bounce back, aided by neoliberals, who helped them consolidate
economic power.
Gerstle offers this quote from Jimmy Carter's 1978 state of the
union address:
Government cannot solve our problems. It can't set our goals. It
cannot define our vision. Government cannot eliminate poverty or
provide a bountiful economy or reduce inflation or save our cities
or cure illiteracy or provide energy. And government cannot mandate
goodness.
One thing I'm struck by here is that four of these sentences
immediately strike us as plausible, given how little trust we still
have in government -- a trust which, one should stress, was broken
by the Vietnam War. However, the other sentence is plainly false,
and Carter seems to be trying to pull a fast one on us, disguising
a pretty radical curtailment of functions that government is the
only remedy for: eliminating poverty (spreading wealth and power),
providing a bountiful economy (organizing fair markets and making
sure workers are paid enough to be consumers), reducing inflation,
saving cities, curing illiteracy (schools), providing energy (TVA,
for example; more privatization here, not the best of solutions,
but kept in check by regulation -- until it wasn't, at which point
you got Enron, which blew up).
But once you realize you're being conned, go back and re-read
the paragraph again, and ask why? It's obvious that government can
solve problems, because it does so all the time. The question is
why doesn't it solve more problems? And the answer is often that
it's being hijacked by special interests, who pervert it for their
own greed (or maybe just pride). Setting goals, defining vision,
and mandating goodness are less tangible, which moves them out of
the normal functioning of government. But such sentences only make
sense if you assume that government is an independent entity, with
its own peculiar interests, and not simply an instrument of popular
will. If government works for you, why can't it promote your goals,
vision, and goodness? Maybe mandates (like the "war on drugs") are
a step too far, because democracies should not only reflect the will
of the majority but also must respect and tolerate the freedom of
others.
Elizabeth Kolbert: [2017-02-19]
Why facts don't change our minds: An old piece, seemingly
relevant again."
Obituaries
Books
Ta-Nehisi Coates:
The Message: I'm finally reading this book, so linking it
here was the easiest way to pick up the cover image. It took a
while to get good, but the major section on Israel/Palestine is
solid and forceful.
Music (and other arts?)
Chatter
Dean Baker: [11-03]
quick, we need a major national political reporter to tell us Donald
Trump is not suffering from dementia, otherwise people might get the
wrong idea. [on post quoting Trump ("we always have huge crowds and
never any empty seats") while panning camera on many empty seats.]
Jane Coaston: [11-04]
Every white nationalist is convinced that almost every other person
is also a white nationalist and that's a level of confidence in the
popularity of one's views I do not understand.
Rick Perlstein comments:
I have a riff about that in my next book. I call it "epistemological
narcissism": right-wingers can't imagine anyone could think differently
than themselves. They, of coruse, only being different in having the
courage to tell the truth . . .
Iris Demento: [11-05]
Happy crippling anxiety day [followed by bullet list from 1972:
- "Nixon Now" - Richard M. Nixon, 1972 (also, "Nixon Now, More
than Ever" and "President Nixon. Now more than ever")
- "Come home, America" - George McGovern, 1972
- "Acid, Amnesty, and Abortion for All" - 1972 anti-Democratic
Party slogan, from a statement made to reporter Bob Novak by Missouri
Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (as related in Novak's 2007 memoir, Prince
of Darkness)
- "Dick Nixon Before He Dicks You" - Popular anti-Nixon slogan,
1972
- "They can't lick our Dick" - Popular campaign slogan for Nixon
supporters
Remembering 1972, I contributed a comment:
1972 was the first time I voted. I hated Nixon much more than I hate
Trump today. (Not the word I would choose today; maybe I retired it
after Nixon?) I voted for McGovern, and for Bill Roy, who ran a
remarkable campaign against the hideous Bob Dole, and for Jim Juhnke
against our dull Republican Rep. Garner Shriver. Those three were
among the most decent and thoughtful people who ever ran for public
office in these parts. I voted for whatever Republican ran against the
horrible Vern Miller and his sidekick Johnny Darr. In a couple cases,
I couldn't stand either D or R, so wasted my vote with the
Prohibitionist (a minor party, but still extant in KS). Not a single
person I voted for won. I was so despondent, I didn't vote again until
1996, when I couldn't resist the opportunity to vote against Dole
again. (I was in MA at the time.) I've voted regularly since
then. After moving back to KS in 1999, I got another opportunity to
vote for whatever Republican ran against Vern Miller, and we beat him
this time (although for the most part, my winning pct. remains pretty
low).
- Paul Krugman: [no link, but cited in a post called
Trump could make contagion great again]
I expect terrible things if Trump wins. Until recently, however,
"explosive growth in infectious diseases" wasn't on my Bingo card
[link to article on RFK Jr. saying "Trump promised him 'control'
of HHS and USDA]
Local tags (these can be linked to directly):
music.
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